The following is a company-submitted press release and does not necessarily represent the views or opinions of College Planning & Management magazine.

E&I Partners With the Higher Education Systems and Services Consortium

June 13th, 2017

JERICHO, NY – E&I Cooperatives Services (E&I) and the Higher Education Systems and Services Consortium (HESS), a nonprofit organization for private colleges and universities, have signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to work collectively to help members connect and save money through technology and services software agreements.

As part of the MOU, E&I has committed to aid in the development, negotiation and management of HESS’s ERP and ancillary administrative software agreements, providing HESS members with access to competitively researched and negotiated features and pricing from its software partners.

“This is a perfect relationship for E&I’s new technology initiatives,” states Keith Fowlkes, co-founder of HESS and VP of E&I’s Technology Category. “The connection between E&I and HESS brings new resources to both of our organizations.”

“Our HESS leadership team has known since the beginning that we needed assistance and expertise in contract development and negotiations,” states Bob Keasler, HESS Board of Directors president. “This relationship with E&I brings the HESS Consortium members the expertise it needs, while helping E&I better connect with technology leaders in HESS’s growing number of smaller, private, non-profit member institutions.”

This alliance marks a new initiative for E&I to more closely engage with small and mid-sized private institutions on their shared technology contract needs. “We see this as a natural partnership with shared goals to serve our collective members more effectively,” said Tom Fitzgerald, CEO, E&I Cooperative Services. “I’m confident E&I and HESS can help make the technology buying process more efficient for our member institutions.”

About HESS
The Higher Education Systems & Services Consortium (hessconsortium.org) is a fully incorporated 501c3 nonprofit, membership-run organization. Made up of chief financial officers, chief information officers as well as technology and finance directors, HESS is focused on collectively lowering costs and increasing collaboration between private colleges and universities in the area of administrative systems and services.

About E&I
E&I Cooperative Services (E&I) is the member-owned, not-for-profit sourcing cooperative delivering expertise, solutions and services to education and related institutions. E&I provides members with access to a diverse portfolio of competitively awarded contracts, electronic procurement solutions and consulting services to help them source effectively. By leveraging the knowledge and expertise of nearly 4,100 member institutions, E&I helps members reduce costs and optimize supply chain efficiencies. The Cooperative’s member-driven competitive solicitation process has been validated by the National Institute of Governmental Purchasing (NIGP) as being in compliance with generally accepted procurement standards. For more information, please visit: www.eandi.org.